Identification: Occurs in large mats on rocks or thin soils.
Fruticose lichen (that is, shaped like a tiny shrub), 2½-5" (6.3-12 cm) high, grayish white. Branches are hollow, and end branches often point in the same direction, looking “windswept,” tips may be brownish.
(Model railroad enthusiasts use these lichens
to create realistic-looking scale-model trees.)